


Rainbow: #10

by Ignisentis



Series: 32 Ways To Say I Love You [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky has a nightmare, Idiots in Love, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, soft and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-22 10:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignisentis/pseuds/Ignisentis
Summary: Bucky has a nightmare, and Steve helps him through it.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: 32 Ways To Say I Love You [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602352
Comments: 43
Kudos: 193





	Rainbow: #10

**Author's Note:**

> We made it 1/3 of the way through!!! Thank you to everyone who has been reading and leaving me such lovely comments!! Knowing you're out there enjoying the softness has been super motivating, I'm not gonna lie! So pat yourselves on the back on my behalf!
> 
> As always, you can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Ardeospina) if you want to come yell at me about soft boys being soft.

It doesn’t happen very often anymore, but every once in a while, Bucky will have a really bad nightmare. They used to happen almost every other day back when he first came to the Tower, but as he settled in and got more comfortable, started remembering more, started feeling safer and safer, the nightmares grew less and less frequent. Now he only has one every other month or so. 

Steve had tried all manner of things to help Bucky through them; most hadn’t worked, and he’d learned the hard way not to touch Bucky to pull him out of the nightmare: the first time he tried it, Bucky had lashed out, shoving him so hard Steve flew off the bed, cracking his head on the wall and leaving a dent in the drywall. When Bucky finally came back to himself, he’d felt so bad he hadn’t talked to Steve for three days, despite Steve’s constant reassurances that it wasn’t Bucky’s fault.

Regardless, the wall had been fixed, and Steve hadn’t really been hurt aside from a little bruising, and he’d learned a valuable lesson about what works and what doesn’t when Bucky has a nightmare. So over the next few weeks, they’d worked out a system of what to do and how to help.

A system Steve is intensely thankful for when Jarvis wakes him in the middle of the night. 

“ _ I’m sorry to wake you, but it seems Mister Barnes is having a nightmare _ ,” Jarvis says, and Steve is instantly awake. 

“Jarvis, please raise the lights to 10%.” 

To room goes from pitch black to slightly murky as Jarvis brings the lights up just enough for Steve’s enhanced vision to see Bucky laying on the bed, stiff and rigid, his breathing shallow and panicky.

“Good catch, Jarvis. Please enact Bucky’s nightmare protocols.”

_ “Understood. Protocols starting now.” _

Steve hears the low hiss of the heating system kicking up as Jarvis raises the temperature in the room a few degrees. Bucky’s always cold when he comes out of these nightmares, and warming him up is a priority. Warm means safety. Warm means he’s not with Hydra. 

“Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. You are safe. You are in New York City with me, Steve Rogers,” Steve starts repeating in an even, calm voice. Jarvis starts slowly raising the lights, very slowly, so the sudden change in brightness doesn’t make Bucky worse. They’d learned that lesson the hard way, too, when Steve had flipped on the lights one time and Bucky had gone deeper into his nightmare.

“Your name is James Buchanan Barnes,” Steve starts again, then again, repeating himself calmly but raising his volume levels slightly with every repeat. The next step of the protocols is scent, then sound after that, but those only kick in if Bucky hasn’t woken up after Steve’s fifth message repeat. Sometimes it just takes one or two times for Steve’s voice to slide into the nightmare and pull Bucky out. Doesn’t look like they’ll be so lucky today.

Steve finishes his fifth repeat and Bucky still isn’t out of his nightmare, so Jarvis starts pumping in chocolate peppermint scent, Bucky’s favorite, and definitely something he associates with their home here in the Tower. With safety. With Steve, and hot peppermint mochas on a cold day. Next comes the gentle sound of rain hitting the glass windows of their apartment, like Bucky would hear if he was sitting in his favorite chair, snuggled under a blanket and watching the rain fall over the city.

Steve keeps talking, too, and finally, after a good ten minutes, Bucky starts to come out of his nightmare. Steve sighs in relief and gets off the bed, rushing to the kitchen where Jarvis has turned on the electric kettle. Steve grabs a peppermint green tea bag and tosses it in a mug, pours water over top, and hurries back to their bedroom.

“Steve?” Bucky croaks just as Steve gets back to the room. The lights are getting lower again, enough to see by but not so bright they’ll keep Bucky awake if wants to fall asleep again. 

“Yeah, Buck, I’m here. You with me?”

“Yeah. I’m...yeah.”

“That was a bad one, huh? Still feeling the effects?”

Bucky whimpers a little as closes his eyes and nods.

“I’ve got tea for you. Ready for me to come back to bed?” Bucky nods again, so Steve gives Bucky his tea, smoothing out the covers and tucking Bucky back under them before climbing into bed himself. Bucky takes a few deep sips before setting his mug on his nightstand.

“Jarvis, please stop the scent protocol and lower the sound protocol by half.” Jarvis does without a word.

Bucky doesn’t like to be touched when he’s in a nightmare, but once he’s out of it, he craves physical contact, so Steve scoots up next to him. He lays on his back, a bunch of pillows propping him up a bit, and pulls Bucky to him. Bucky comes willingly, laying his head against Steve’s chest and wrapping his arm around Steve’s waist. He lets Bucky listen to his heartbeat a little while, lets Bucky soak in his warmth, until he stops trembling, the adrenaline from the nightmare finally seeping out of his system.

Bucky presses a kiss to Steve’s chest, and that’s his cue. “What do you want tonight?” Steve asks softly.

“Mmm...Rainbow.”

“Garland or Kermit?”

Bucky huffs a little but thinks about it. “Garland.”

“Okay,” Steve says before pressing a soft kiss to Bucky’s hair. Bucky hums contentedly and wiggles closer.

_ “Somewhere over the rainbow,” _ Steve starts singing, earnest and a little off-key,  _ “way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.” _

  
  
  
  



End file.
